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News

Sep 26, 2018

Stay safe – know your Active Mobility rules now

There have been many news reports of reckless cyclists and riders caught by enforcement officers of late. These riders were caught for breaking the rules under the Active Mobility Act, which came into force in 2018. The Act introduced a set of rules and code of conduct to guide riding behaviours of cyclists, power-assisted bicycle (PAB) users and personal mobility device (PMD) users. Those who run afoul of the law can be fined and/or jailed. Reckless riding on paths, for instance, could result in a fine up to $5,000 and jail term up to six months.

To help you stay on the right side of the law, the Move Happy team pored through the rules and summarised key points you should take note. We’ve also put together a fun quiz, at the end of this article, for you to find out how much you remember. (If you think you already know the Active Mobility Act rules well, jump straight to the quiz to see how well you fare!)

Device criteria

Before hitting the public paths such as footpaths, Park Connector Networks and cycling paths, make sure your bicycle, PMD or PAB fits the approved criteria above. You can be slapped with hefty penalty, which goes up to $10,000 fine and six-month jail term, for riding a non-compliant device.

Not sure if your device is compliant? Bring it to the retailer from where you bought your device and have it checked out. If your device is found to be non-compliant, the retailer may be able to assist you to reduce the weight of your device, or cap the speed limit of your device.

Path usage

Do you know that PABs are allowed on shared cycling paths and Park Connector Networks, but not on footpaths? Here’s a helpful infographic from LTA’s website that shows where different devices are allowed on, under the Active Mobility Act.

Under the Act, it is an offence to ride a PMD on the roads. Footage captured by road users on ROADS.sg, for example, still shows some riders taking their e-scooters out on the roads for a joy ride. Keep your PMDs off the roads – and spare yourself of penalties up to $5,000 fine and 6 months jail term.

And if you ride a PAB, keep your device off footpaths, and stay on shared paths and the roads.

Speed limits

While your device is finally approved for off-road use, do take note of the speed limits for footpaths and shared paths:

As a rule of thumb, a cyclist or PMD rider should not be travelling much faster than the average running speed of a person on footpaths. From early 2019, the speed limits of devices on footpaths will be reduced to 10km/h. Riding over these speed limits could earn you a fine up to $2,000 and jail term up to 6 months.

To keep track of your riding speed, you can download free or low-cost mobile speedometer apps and mount your smartphone on your device. Or consider investing in a real-time speedometer.

Light up in the dark

While Singapore’s streets are generally well-lit, it makes sense to still ensure that others are able to see you after the sun sets.

So, for the safety of yourself and others, make your presence known to pedestrians and motorists alike by switching on your device’s front white lights and rear red lights at night. Otherwise, you could incur a maximum fine of $2,000 and six months in jail.

Traffic rules

For cyclists and PAB riders on roads, remember to follow all traffic signals and travel in the same direction as the flow of traffic. Once you are on the road, adhering to these rules can save you from fines up to $2,000 and jail terms of up to six months.

Recommended behaviours

The Active Mobility Act also has a code of conduct (a set of recommended riding behaviours) for active mobility users. Here are two that we really like:

While there’s no penalty for not sticking to the code of conduct, we think they make perfect sense. After all, as responsible cyclists and PMD/PAB riders, we should look out and slow down for pedestrians – you’ll never know when a child will dash across your path. The elderly may also not be able to react to our faster-moving device in time.

Now that you’ve read through the rules and some codes of conduct, try our quiz to see how much you’ve remembered! You can also go to LTA’s website to arm yourself with more information before attempting the quiz.